Whoops! Red Ed picks serial loser for top job
SERIOUS concerns are being expressed by Ed Miliband’s aides about the wisdom of the appointment of a veteran party apparatchik to an important role in the election campaign.
Long- standing Red Ed henchman John McTernan is the new chief of staff to recently appointed Scottish Labour l eader Jim Murphy — a vital job considering Labour’s hopes of winning the General Election depend, to a great extent, on how many seats it gets north of the border.
The challenge for Miliband in Scotland is huge. Recent opinion polls suggest that Labour is set to lose more than 30 of its current 40 Scottish seats.
This is why there are widespread worries about the London-born McTernan — particularly considering his track record.
His most recent role was head of communications to Julia Gillard, Australia’s first woman PM. Yet she then lost her job.
Previously, he was a special adviser to Harriet Harman in the first Blair government — but she lasted in her ministerial post for only a year.
Next, McTernan helped Frank Dobson’s campaign to be London Mayor in 2000. Dobson polled a humiliating 13 per cent of votes.
Then, he worked for Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish, who was forced to resign following a row over his expenses.
Undeterred, McTernan had a stint working in Downing Street, which led him to be twice questioned by the police — but not charged — over allegations that Tony Blair had sold honours.
Subsequently, McTernan had a role in Labour’s campaign during the Scottish parliamentary election in 2007 — which resulted in Labour losing power to the SNP.
A year later, when working for the Scottish Office, he was hugely embarrassed after it was revealed that he had sent a private email some years previously in which he described Scotland as a ‘narrow, Presbyterian and racist’ country.
Not exactly the sort of sentiments Labour needs to woo back disaffected Scottish voters — added to the fact that he also once worked under David Cameron as director of operations at Carlton Television.